Mission Call

Ever since my first taste of independent adventure two years ago when I moved to Arizona for the summer, I haven't been able to get enough. Arizona was followed by another year at school in Provo, then DC, Provo again, and now Jerusalem. Those who know me well know that I like to always have another adventure to look forward to when one is about to end. For the past few months I have been wondering where I will go next. Well, my mission call came in the mail last weekend with my answer: Belgium and the Netherlands!

Funny story...I never really thought about the Netherlands until last week when two things happened: 1) Their soccer team played in the World Cup and 2) Our neighbors in Galilee were from Holland, and I couldn't figure out if Holland was IN the Netherlands, or if they were two different places. (What I learned is that north and south Holland are actually two of 12 provinces in the Netherlands, but Holland and the Netherlands are often used synonymously). Maybe I'll run into them while I'm there!

I am SOOO excited to do this! Even though I was surprised at first, I feel more and more confident that this call is divinely inspired. Just three more months exactly!

Jerusalem

Tomorrow I begin a new adventure. One that really began over almost exactly a year ago, when I wondered if a study abroad in Jerusalem would be right for me. After thinking and praying about it for a long while, I felt like my answer was no. I accepted that and tried to move on, but I couldn't let the idea go, so I tried thinking and praying about it a trip to Jerusalem again, only from a different angle. I thought maybe I would feel better about going for only two weeks, but that didn't feel right either. After another few weeks passed I tried one last time. I felt good about applying for the study abroad program and so I did. Later, after being accepted, I made the decision to actually go. At the time it seemed so far away, but it snuck up incredibly fast. I leave for the airport in about 7 hours and I still can't believe I'm actually going.

The past few days I have felt really nervous as I think about leaving friends, family, and home for 4 months. But whenever I start feeling sick to my stomach about travelling so far, I just think about this picture, and I feel immediately calm:

I can only imagine that being in the city where Jesus once lived and seeing some of the things He saw will be a life-changing experience. And I will be there in just a couple days.

While I'm gone I'll try to update this regularly, although I can't guarantee my posts will be long or full of pictures. I can say that there is a good chance the number and quality of my posts will correlate positively with the number of comments they receive :). If you need me for anything else, email me at abbycrich@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you!